Prior art spring-loaded tongs are commonly used to handle food and provide a convenient way to grasp objects to be temporarily transported. On problem with the prior art spring loaded tongs is that the tongs take up significant amount of space if left in the open condition. This is typically not a problem when the tongs are used, but becomes undesirable when the tongs are to be stored. If the tongs are compressed and closed and placed in a drawer, the spring action of the tongs may cause the tongs to open rendering the drawer difficult to open.
Another disadvantage of the prior art tongs is that they are only capable of become fully opened or closed and cannot be used in intermediate opened and closed positions. This is significantly of a disadvantage for a user with small hands to use the tongs in a fully opened position. Moreover, in order to handle food items of varying size and dimension, the prior art tongs are also more difficult to operate and do not allow for varying degrees of which the tong members can be incrementally positioned relative to one another.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a mechanism that allows the tongs to be used in varying intermediate positions between a fully closed position and a fully opened position.
It is another object of the present invention to provide multi-purpose tongs that can be used by people with small hands.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide multi-purpose tongs that are spring-biased and are storable in a locked position.